The printing technique of mezzotint is particularly suited to reproducing the tones of a painting. The mezzotinter works a copper plate with a rocker (a serrated, chisel-like tool) until the surface is covered in an even burr (the curl of metal raised by the rocker). He or she then forms the design by smoothing the burr so that different areas of the plate will hold different quantities of ink and therefore print different tones. This mezzotint is after a painting by Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792).